[Correlations between biological and clinical indices in children with intellectual deficiencies].

Some biochemical and electrophysiological parameters were examined in 20 intellectually-defective children with a history of pre- and perinatal damages. Certain correlations between the character of EEG changes, the level of amino acids in the peripheral blood, and the efficacy of treatment with drugs acting upon metabolism were discovered. A marked slow-wave activity was observed on the EEG in the group of patients whose clinical course was the most unfavourable: this activity coincided with an elevated level of methionine (the source of the methyl groups in acetylcholine biosynthesis) in the peripheral blood. The therapeutic effect was the most marked in children with paroxysmal EEGs: this was accompanied in them with an increased content of functional amino acids. The data obtained are important for a more differentiated approach to the therapy of mentally retarded patients.